Rotary steam-engine.



J. SGHULLER & A. NILAND.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.16, 1909.

$62,98, Patented June 28, 1910.

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attopmqo J. SGHULLER & A. NILAND.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

PPPP IOATION FILED NOV. 16, 1909.

9629M. I Patented June 28, 1910.

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J. SOHU'LLER & A. N'ILAND.

ROTARY STEAM, ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1909.

962,984. Patented June 28,1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICEE.

JOHN SCI-IULLER AND ANDREW NILAND, OF HOQUIAM, WASHINGTON.

ROTARY STEAM-ENGINE.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN SCI-IULLEI: and ANDREW l ILAND, citizens of the United States, residing at Hoquiam, in the county of Chehalis, State of lV-ashington, have invented a new and useful Rotary Steam-Engine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of rotary engines characterized by a cylinder in which is eccentrically mounted a rotary piston which is in contact with the wall of the cylinder at one point, said piston carrying a sliding blade in contact at its ends with the cylinder wall at diametrically opposite points, and forming a head on which the steam or other fluid under pressure operates to rotate the piston.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an engine of the kind stated which is simple in structure, and highly eflicient in operation, the sliding blade being so constructed and mounted, that it is held in contact with the cylinder wall with a minimum amount of friction, and without the interposition of springs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple cut-off valve to enable the steam to be used expansively.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a simple reversing device, which also serves as a vent for relieving the cylinder space in front of the piston blade of all pressure.

lVith the herein stated objects in view the invention consists in a novel construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the drawings hereto annexed in which- Figure 1 is an end View of the engine complete. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, 5 denotes the engine cylinder which is mounted on a base 6 from which also rise bearing standards 7 for supporting the engine shaft 8, which is equipped with a governor belt pulley 9, and a pulley 10 for transmitting the motion of the enne. The cylinder 5 is formed with a cordiform chamber 11 in which the rotary piston works, said chamber being closed at its ends by Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 16, 1909.

Patented June 28, 1910.

Serial No. 528,310.

cylinder heads 12. The piston is a circular member 13 made fast to the shaft 8, and carrying a sliding blade 14 in constant contact at its ends with the cylinder wall at diametrically opposite points. The blade 14 is slidably mounted in a diametrical opening made in the piston 13, and in the shaft 8, its outer edge being grooved to receive packing strips 15 to provide a steam tight fit between the blades and the cylinder wall, these packing strips being also located on the side edges of the blades, in contact with the inner faces of the cylinder heads 12. At diametrically opposite points, the piston carries rollers 16 engageable respectively with opposite faces of the blade to reduce friction. The cylinder heads are also provided with circular grooves in which are mounted packing strips 17 engageable with the ends of the piston, and on said ends are hub enlargements 13 working in recesses made in the inner faces of the cylinder heads.

The piston 13 is located eccentrically in the chamber 11, and is in contact with the cylinder wall at one point, the point of contact being the apex of the curved surface of said wall. At this point, is a recess in the cylinder wall in which is slidably mounted a packing block 19, shaped at its outerend to conform to the outline of the cylinder wall. Mounted in the recess, behind the packing block, is a spring 20 for holding it in contact with the periphery of the piston 13.

The inlet ports to the chamber 11 are indicated at 21 and 22 respectively, they entering the same on opposite sides of the point of contact between the piston 13 and the cylinder wall. One or the other of these inlet ports is to be used according to the direction in which the engine is to run. The exhaust port 23 is made in the cylinder wall at the base diametrically opposite the aforesaid point of contact, and therefore midway between the inlet ports.

At 24 is indicated the steam chest of the engine, to which the live steam pipe 25 is connected. The steam chest has a single passage 26 communicating at one end with the steam pipe 25, and at the other end with two branch passages 27, extending in opposite curves to an enlargement or bore 28, in which a cut-ofi valve 29 works. From this bore, a short passage 30 leads to an enlargement or bore 31 in which a reversing valve 32 works, and from the last-mentioned bore, the inlet ports 21 and 22 lead to the chamber 11.

The valve 29 is mounted for rocking movement on a shaft 83 extending throiigh a stufling boX 34 to the outside of the steam chest, and fitted with a rocker arm 85, connected to the rod 36 of an eccentric 37 mounted on the engine shaft 8. The motion of the engine shaft is therefore transmitted to the valve for operating the same. The valve 29 consists of a pair of diametrically opposite blades 38 projecting from a hub, and it is rocked by the eccentric so as to admit steam to the chamber 11 twice at each revolution of the shaft 8. In one position of the valve, communication is established between one of the passages 27 and the passage 30, and in the other position of the valve, the other passage 27 is in communication with the passage 30. The valve is designed to cut off steam before the end of the working stroke of the piston, so that the steam may ope ate expansively for the remainder of the stroke.

The reversing valve is a plug having a channel 39 which, in one position of the valve, establishes communication between the passage 30 and the inlet port 21, as shown in Fig. 1, to let steam into the right side of the chamber 11. On reversing the position of the valve, the inlet port 21 is closed to the passage 30, and said passage is placed in communication with the inlet port 22 through the channel 39, thus letting steam into the left side of the chamber 11, and thereby reversing the engine. The valve is carried on a stem 40 passing through a stuffing boX 41 to the outside of the steam chest, and fitted with a handle 42 for setting it manually. The reversing valve also has grooves 43 which alternately connect the inlet ports with a vent port 44 made in the wall of the bore 31 between the entrance ends of the inlet ports. Then the inlet port 21 is open to the passage 30, the inlet port 22 is closed thereto, but is in communication with the vent port 44 through the groove 43, so that any pressure which may tend to accumulate in front of the piston blade is permitted to escape. When the valve is reversed to reverse the engine, the other groove 43 establishes communication between the vent port and the inlet port 21.

That portion of the cylinder wall which is between the inlet ports, as well as the outer face of the packing block 19, is grooved as indicated at 45, said grooves opening into said ports, in view of which it will be evident that steam is admitted behind the piston blade just as soon as it clears the point of contact between the piston and the block 19, and at the same time, the venting action continues until the piston blade reaches this point.

The engine herein described is simple in construction, and entirely devoid of complicated parts to get out of order. The expansive force of the steam is utilized, as the area of the chamber 11 gradually increases in the direction of the exhaust port, thereby increasing the effective area of the piston blade. The manner in which the piston blade is mounted reduces friction to minimum, and by providing the vent port 44, back pressure is reduced to a minimum.

lVhat is claimed is:

In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a rotary piston eccentrically mounted in the cylinder, and in contact with the wall thereof at one point, said cylinder having inlet ports adja cent to and on opposite sides of said point of contact, a sliding blade carried by the piston in contact at its ends with the cylinder wall, a steam chest having a cylindrical valve chamber, said steam chesthaving an inlet, and passages leading therefrom and. entering the valve chamber on diametrically opposite sides thereof, a second valve chamber between the aforesaid valve chamber and the cylinder inlet ports, said ports leading from the second mentioned valve chamber, and said second mentioned valve chamber being in communication with the first mentioned valve chamber, a rotary valve working in the first mentioned valve chamber, said rotary valve having diametrically opposite blades alternately opening the aforesaid passages of the steam chest into the first mentioned valve chamber, and a reversing valve in the second mentioned valve chamber.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have hereto atliXed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses,

JOHN SCHULLER. ANDRElV NILAND.

Witnesses L. H. BREWER, WINNIE BALLnw. 

